CD Reviews

pizzicato | RéF – Rémy Franck | April 2005

Serious interpretations

German pianist David Theodor Schmidt, born in 1982, 1st prize winner at the Köthen Bach competition in 2000, presents himself on this debut recording as a pianist to be taken seriously. He has character and something to say, and does so without any extravagance. The tempi chosen in Bach’s English Suite No. 6 are – with the exception of the Allemande – rather brisk. And even though the Suite may possibly sound less playful than in other interpretations, it is no less fresh for its fluidity. There’s also a suitable amount of sensitivity in his playing. In the Gavotte II there are sound colours reminiscent of a lute, which makes for a very beautiful effect, on that I have not heard as clearly from any other pianist. After some Bach arrangements, which are played with quite a well developed sense of differentiation, Schmidt finishes his programme with ‘Prélude Choral et Fugue’ by Cesar Franck. In this piece as well there are all the nuances the piece requires from restraint to a great flourish. The pianist is obviously completely into that piece – into both its meditative and its ecstatic visions.

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